According to their website, , the stop at PCES-St. Steve鈥檚 was their first mission since November 2019. Boasting its 15th year of missions, the STEM Shuttle proudly bills itself as 鈥渢he field trip that visits schools.鈥�

The STEM Shuttle, manned by two veteran on board teachers, gives several small groups of students about an hour to be challenged by hands-on activities combining space travel and STEM education.

鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to have the STEM Shuttle back up and running and we were thrilled to be their first mission this spring,鈥� said Ellen Lopas, principal of PCES-St. Steve鈥檚 and Pacelli Catholic Middle School.鈥�

The stop at PCES-St. Steve鈥檚 was one of many taking place throughout Central Wisconsin thanks to a donation from Connexus Credit Union鈥檚 Connexus Cares Committee to the Dream Flight USA Foundation. The STEM Shuttle will return to Stevens Point to visit grades 5-8 at Pacelli Catholic Middle School on May 20.

鈥淲e鈥檙e grateful to Connexus Credit Union and the Dream Flight USA Foundation for giving our students the opportunity to participate in some interactive, engaging space-related STEM activities outside of the classroom,鈥� said Lopas.

Throughout her 5 years at PCHS, Cabello has taken her students beyond just learning the language, seeking to expand their knowledge of Hispanic and Latin cultures through special projects, like creating their own alebrijes, brightly colored folk art statues.聽

鈥淭hrough these projects students experience the cultures of different countries, learn vocabulary that they might not encounter in class, practice their Spanish speaking and writing skills and get to be creative,鈥� said Cabello鈥檚 colleague and PCHS math teacher Laurie Schroeder. 鈥淭hey get excited to talk about their work and the 鈥榯rivia鈥� they learned in their research.鈥�

Students also benefit from immersive language instruction led by Cabello with trips to Madison to learn salsa and merengue dancing, ordering food in Spanish, and documenting their experiences by creating videos. Many of Cabello鈥檚 students have traveled to Spanish speaking countries, speaking fluently with natives, and continued their Spanish language studies after high school.

Cabello鈥檚 commitment doesn鈥檛 stop with her students in the classroom. She serves on the board of the Portage County Literacy Council, helping to implement strategies that promote the intellectual, cultural, and linguistic development of Latin and Hmong populations in Portage County. Cabello served as an interpreter with the public school district facilitating meetings between staff and Hispanic parents, translating school-related documents, and even coordinated 鈥淗ispanic Family Night鈥� to promote reading at home every day. She also taught Faith Formation classes for 3rd and 5th graders at St. Bronislava Parish. Cabello is also a board member of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Wisconsin Chapter (AATSP-WI) and is a member of the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL).

Also honored at the Creative Excellence Awards Breakfast were two Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education runners up – 海角直播 computer science teacher Dana LaMotte and Pacelli Catholic Middle School 5th grade teacher Tiffany Wittmus.聽

Per the Portage County Business Council a total of 15 nominations were submitted for the award, 12 of them being 海角直播 teachers. In addition to Cabello, LaMotte, and Wittmus, other nominees included Carol Bernas, Jeff Bushman, Annabel Maas, Jenifer Meronek, Greg Miller, Ann Molski, Amy Parks, Lisa Springob, and Joe Zawacki.

Photo Credit: Portage County Business Council

My husband Edward and I have 4 children and all have had the pleasure of attending 海角直播. Each year we are continually impressed with the quality of education our children receive, second only to the faith-filled atmosphere they are able to experience each day in Catholic schools. As a parent, there is comfort knowing that our morals and religious beliefs are mirrored in their daily life at school, and that their teachers serve as role models. This strong foundation in Catholic faith helps them develop a life-long relationship with Christ and the Catholic Church.

Catholic schools strive to help our children find value and reach their full potential, as well as create kind, knowledgeable, productive members of society. With God鈥檚 guidance, they receive academic, spiritual, social, and physical development. The high standards of quality teaching along with the standards of behavior and respect for others, are a part of daily Catholic school life. With higher academic achievement levels, higher math scores, higher graduation levels, and a low student to teacher ratio, it was an easy decision to continue our children鈥檚 education through the Catholic school system. The wide curriculum and strong academic reputation of Catholic schools serves our children well, helping them create a successful God-centered worthy life.

Having a Catholic identity helps our children become part of a Catholic culture that is grounded in academic excellence, faith formation, and service. Creating a school/church connection creates an atmosphere of comfort with our church family, and our children are able to find fellowship opportunities within. Belonging to a Catholic school and church allows us to get involved and feel the comforts of home when we have no other relatives in the area. In our ever-changing world, we are so blessed that we have the solid foundation of Catholic education and faith for our family.

Many blessings to you and yours.

Monica Grabiec
Parent of Maxwell ’24, Samuel ’25, Vincent, & Ruby ’30

The reality is there is no such thing as a perfect life; only a life that is perfect for you. Most of life isn鈥檛 something that just happens to us, although sometimes it is easier to use that as an excuse. The truth is that decision after decision, some small, some large, build upon each other and create the life that we have. Over the years, and through experience, I have come to believe more and more that it is our moral ground, our faith, and our belief system that determines which way we go on so many of those decisions. As a parent, not only do those decisions affect you personally, but they also impact those around you.

Do you ever look at your kids and beam with pride and think how blessed you are to be their mom or dad? Sometimes it can be the absolute simplest gesture your child makes. Maybe it is seeing the kid next to him at lunch not having much food to eat and he shares half of his sandwich. Maybe it is pausing when he is walking in a building to hold the door open for someone else and lets them go in ahead of them or seeing some litter on the sidewalk and picking it up and throwing it away.

You may wonder what all of this has to do with a Cathollic education and my answer to you would be everything.

Long before I took the position of president at 海角直播 I was an ardent supporter of Catholic education. My husband and I come from multi-generational families of Catholic school attendees. When our kids were ready to go to school, it wasn鈥檛 even a decision we consciously made; we just signed them up at St. Joe鈥檚 in Sturgeon Bay. But the reality is the reason it was a forgone conclusion in the minds of both my husband and myself was the grounding each of us received throughout our Catholic educations, even though we are 15 years apart in age and the Catholic education each of us experienced was very different. It was the same morals, same beliefs, and same faith that we wanted to give our kids to be able to draw upon when they were going to be faced with all of the decisions that life throws at oneself. We wanted to ensure that, even when we were not there by their side, they would have the resources internally to draw upon and make the best choices possible.

As we prepare to celebrate Catholic Schools Week the first week of February, I want to applaud those parents who made a commitment to their children’s future by enrolling them in a Catholic school. While finances should never be a barrier to a Catholic education, despite available help like tuition assistance, school choice, and scholarships, for many paying for Catholic school tuition is a sacrifice, and dare I say it a choice.

For those of you who make a decision to have your child become a part of our 海角直播 family, I want to assure you that we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that we are giving them the best education possible, in a safe and secure environment with the resources of faith and values to draw upon as they grow to become their individual best!

If you are interested in learning more about attending or supporting 海角直播 please feel free to reach out to me at any time. My number is 715.341.2445, you can email me at cweber@pacellicatholicschools.com, or come and visit me in our Central Office. I invite you to witness the difference of a Pacelli Catholic education in the life of your child. In my humble opinion, it may be the best choice you make.

In Faith,

Cindy Weber
President

The is in full swing every Saturday from 8am-12pm at Redeemer Lutheran Church – ELCA.

In search of some locally made gifts for Christmas? Head to the Dec. 7-8, on Dec. 12, or the on Dec. 12.

Make your own wreath this year by participating in on Dec. 3 with Inspired by Nature – Fine Floral Finds. Prefer to craft from the comfort of your own home? Check out with Central Rivers Farmshed, Solin Tree Farm, and The Main Grain Bakery.

Save a life – donate blood. Sign up to participate in on Dec. 11.

Spot community updates or events?聽Share it with聽pacelli@pacellicatholicschools.com聽to include in the new聽Community Corner聽section of our聽e-newsletter聽and website.

See Pacelli in the news?聽Send it to聽pacelli@pacellicatholicschools.com聽for inclusion on our website, social media sites, or聽e-newsletters.

I want to take a quick moment to introduce myself and share with you how excited I am to be the new President of 海角直播!

I have lived in Door County almost my entire life, except for attending Carroll University in Waukesha for four years. I ran our family business for more than 20 years, was Vice President of our YMCA for almost 10 years, and most recently was CEO of Sunshine House, an organization that meets the needs of seniors as well as intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals through personal care services. It also helps them to be successful by working on our manufacturing floor as well as through career development and so much more. I have served in leadership positions on more than a dozen boards and was part of the committee who worked to consolidate our Catholic schools in Door County.

I am passionate about Catholic education and the moral values and spiritual grounding we instill in our youth, all the while helping them reach academic excellence and individual success. In fact, our family has 4 generations of Catholic school attendance! We have so much to be proud about in the work we do and the impact we have! I am a huge believer in continuous improvement, and while Gregg Hansel has left big shoes to fill with his retirement and years of dedicated service to PCS, every new leader brings in new ideas, perspectives and expertise.

I want to personally thank Gregg for positioning our school well for continued success and growth and wish him a fulfilling retirement! Hopefully we can do a celebration of his service sometime this fall.

Starting a position like this in the middle of a pandemic is something I am sure no one would ever imagine having to do and I will share with you that it has been, and will be, all-consuming for the foreseeable future. Based on that, I apologize if I am not able to connect with each of you personally, face-to-face, as soon as I would like.

Attached you will find a聽 outlining his support of us opening this fall. We fully embrace his directive to open in as 鈥渘ormal鈥� a fashion as possible, but unfortunately normal is not going to mean the same now as it did 6 months ago.

Over the next couple of months we will communicate as much as we can what our plan will be, with the understanding that there will be several variations and progressions based on current outbreaks and infection rate, increased knowledge, public perception and more.

I want to also thank each of you who took the time to fill out the we sent last week 鈥� if you have not filled it out yet, you are still able to do so and we encourage you to share your perspective.

Based on the survey results to date as well as CDC, Public Health, and Diocesan Guidelines our number one priority is to provide face to face education in fall of 2020. Pending availability of equipment, we hope to offer remote access into our classrooms for those who cannot attend in person due to personal choice or whatever their individual situation may be day-to-day. We are working to put resources and training in place to help us not 鈥渟kip a beat鈥� whether in person or remote.

We are establishing cleaning protocols and putting plans in place to limit unnecessary interactions between multiple groups of students, all the while acknowledging the importance of socializing and mental health. Things like lunch and recess will look different.

We know we have families who fall on both ends of the spectrum in regards to items like wearing masks and whatever decisions we make will not satisfy everyone, but I want to personally assure each of you that we are spending hours and hours, doing the best we can to hear all perspectives and make what we feel are the best decisions at any given time.

This is going to take a team effort on all of our parts to be successful 鈥� from staying home if you are ill, trying to limit the exposure your children have to individuals who may be potentially positive, to everyone washing their hands more and covering their coughs.

We have a tremendous staff and administrative team in place who are doing their best to ensure the 2020-2021 school year will be as successful as possible.

Thank you for being a part of our Pacelli family and may God鈥檚 grace be with each and every one of you.

In faith,

Cindy Weber
President, 海角直播

Kaster has vast experience in education over the past 33 years serving not only as a teacher, but a principal in public and private schools for 25 years. He served as principal for Madison Elementary School in the School District of Marshfield for 16 years and most recently as K-8 teaching principal at St. Joseph Catholic School in Stratford for the past three years.

Kaster earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in school health education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, his master鈥檚 degree in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and his doctorate in educational leadership from Edgewood College. He also holds certifications in the areas of curriculum and instruction and district administration.

Kaster replaces longtime PCS principal and administrator Gregg Hansel who is set to retire on June 30. PCS continues a national search for a school system president to replace some of Hansel鈥檚 duties, as well. Interested applicants should visit for more details on the position and how to apply.

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